


Tonight's the Night the World Begins Again

by celeste9



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Hugs, Multi, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-25 00:26:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22006912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celeste9/pseuds/celeste9
Summary: (spoilers for TRoS)In the midst of celebrating with Finn and Rey, Poe finds his father.
Relationships: Kes Dameron & Poe Dameron, Poe Dameron/Finn/Rey
Comments: 19
Kudos: 199





	Tonight's the Night the World Begins Again

**Author's Note:**

> Like I wasn't going to write "Kes answered the call" fic, come on. :D The title is from Goo Goo Dolls.

Poe was very prepared to never let go of Finn and Rey. He could stand here in the forest and hug them forever, couldn’t he? He was pretty sure he could. At least it would stop them running off and doing something stupid without him.

The sound of someone clearing their throat echoed behind him, and then, “So these are the kids I’ve heard so much about, huh?”

It was the only voice that could have separated Poe from Finn and Rey. He pulled back and turned around, blinking. “Dad?”

Kes Dameron stood with his hands shoved in his pockets, smiling crookedly. “Hey, Poe.”

“Dad!” Poe practically leapt forward, flinging his arms around his father. “Stars, Dad. What are you doing here?”

“Heard my kid went and got himself made a general and put in charge of the Resistance, and then, of course, got into trouble. So I came to help.”

Poe drew back enough to look at his father’s face. “You flew here? You were at Exogol?”

Poe’s father smacked his arm. “Don’t look so shocked. I’m not your mom but I can fly when I need to. And you needed me.”

Poe swallowed, words escaping him momentarily, and then said, “Mom’s ship?”

Dad rested his palm against Poe’s cheek. “You know she would always have been there for you.”

To hide his face, which he was sure was betraying him right now, showcasing every motion flooding through his body, Poe leaned in to hug his father again, tighter. Tears were pinching behind his eyes and he swallowed to fight them off.

“She would be so proud of you,” his father said, fingers carefully carding through Poe’s hair where he cradled the back of his head, “and so am I.”

_No crying,_ Poe told himself. _You’re not crying. We won. You’re happy. They’re all safe._

_You can cry later._

To stave off the overflow of emotions, Poe stepped back. “Come on and meet them,” he said. “Finn and Rey.” He gestured to his friends, who were standing uncertainly a little ways away, as though they didn’t know if they should wait for Poe or not and didn’t want to intrude on what probably seemed an entirely private moment. “This is my dad,” he told them.

Finn and Rey came towards them, accepting the opportunity, and Poe’s father said, “I’m glad to finally meet you. Poe talks about you a lot, every transmission I get.”

Poe tried not to be embarrassed but found himself awkwardly shifting his weight.

Finn glanced to Rey. “Good things?”

“Well, no one complains more about anything than they do about the people they care for.”

A traitorous blush was creeping up the back of Poe’s neck. “That’s funny, because sometimes people are just annoying and pushy so you’ve got to complain. Right, Dad?”

“He’s funny, huh?” Poe’s dad said to Finn and Rey. “The sense of humor on this one.” He held his hand out to Finn. “Call me Kes.”

“Weren’t you a sergeant in the Rebellion?”

“Yeah, well, they hand those titles around like nothing. Heard they even made some hotshot flyboy general of this whole thing.”

“What were they thinking? Must’ve been desperate,” Poe said.

“Clearly,” Dad agreed. He offered Rey his hand and she took it a little shyly. “And you’re the Jedi.”

“Not really,” Rey started to say, but Finn interrupted.

“She really is.”

“Best fighter I’ve ever seen,” Poe added, “and a lovely but enormous pain in my ass.”

Rey made a face at him. “Difficult. Such a difficult man.”

They smiled at each other, and Finn rolled his eyes. “They’re like this all the time,” he complained.

Poe bumped his shoulder. “You love it.”

Finn’s expression said very clearly that he did but he was never going to admit it. Ever. Poe prided himself on having become an expert at deciphering Finn.

(He was wrong a lot. But he liked to think that just meant that Finn hadn’t yet realized that what he actually meant was what Poe thought he meant.)

His dad, meanwhile, had a look on his face that bordered on sentimental as he watched them. It was concerning.

“You okay there, Dad?” Poe asked. “You’re looking a little…” _Sappy,_ was the word Poe was thinking.

Dad only met Poe’s eyes brightly. “You should be with your friends.”

Poe frowned. “But I haven’t seen you in forever, and you’re here, and… there’s so much I want to tell you.”

Stars, there was so much Poe wanted to say. Leia, and the war, and Exogol, and he was a general, and what was he supposed to do now, now that they’d won, now that he was the kriffing general and there was a hell of a lot less to shoot at, and… and his mother, and Finn and Rey, and…

“There will be plenty of time for you to tell me everything, Poe,” his dad said, nodding his head over Poe’s shoulder. “Go be with them. Lots of people here for me to catch up with in the meantime.”

That was fair enough, and, for once, for the first time in so kriffing long, there wasn’t an imminent threat of death hanging over their heads. Poe could take Rey and wash the blood off her face, and he could hug Finn again, and they could sit and talk, or not talk, and when they were all right, his father would still be here, and they would all still be safe. It felt like he could breathe for the first time in years.

Poe hugged his dad once more. “Thank you,” he said, meaning it for so many different reasons. From the way his father clutched him, Poe thought he understood.

He drew back, clapping his father’s arm. “You might run into a tiny dark-haired woman with a datapad who will ask a lot of questions about you and your ship and quite possibly ask you to park it somewhere else. You should do what she says.”

“She might tase you if you don’t,” Finn volunteered with a smile.

“Noted,” Dad said.

“Guess you’re stuck with me for a while longer,” Poe told Finn and Rey cheerfully, to which they faked a lot of exaggerated grumbling. Neither of them, however, protested when Poe wrapped his arms around their waists to lead them off into the trees, to somewhere they could sit with slightly more privacy.

“Hey,” his dad called out, and Poe turned, his arms still around Finn and Rey, unwilling to let go even a little. “Don’t forget my invitation.”

It took a second for Poe to read his father’s cheeky grin and the deliberate way he was looking at all three of them to understand what he meant. “Yeah, yeah,” he said, grinning back. “You’ll be the first on my list.”

“What did he mean?” Finn asked, Rey looking on curiously.

Poe pulled them in closer as they walked. “Never mind. We’ve got plenty of time.”

There was no need to rush.


End file.
